I Would Love To
by NateeWeasley
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, Harry and Ginny comfort each other. One-shot. Rated T because of language and because I'm paranoid.


The scene Ginny saw before her was absolutely depressing. What was once the Great Hall, one of the most joyful places in Hogwarts, was now the aftermath of the war she and the students of Hogwarts won. What was left of them, anyway. She had witnessed so many loved ones die before her; Lupin, Tonks, her classmate Colin Creevey, and worst of all, her older brother, Fred. The last thing Fred ever said to her was to "stay strong" and "we are going to win this". How the hell could she stay strong? How could George, who just lost his other half, his identical twin brother, stay strong? And Teddy…oh, poor Teddy…he had lost his parents in the battle. They had won, but with a horrible price.

Ginny couldn't sleep that night. The most recent events were haunting her subconscious over and over again, not wanting to leave her alone. She kept seeing Fred hit by the unforgivable curse that had killed him the night before, and every time, she heard his laugh fade away as she awoke, drenched in sweat. She couldn't stop picturing his face just split seconds before he was hit; it was a mixture of shock, fear, sadness, the faces Ginny had rarely ever seen on her brother. She remembered those last few moments very clearly. She also remembered afterwards; George and Mum were sobbing uncontrollably, and her dad's usually calm face was replaced by despair and anger. Ginny wasn't sobbing. Tears were spilling from her eyes, rolling down her cheeks, and her head was shaking in disbelief. Why was the world so cruel?

After the restless night she had endured, Ginny volunteered to help her professors and fellow students repair the Great Hall and the rest of their damaged school.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Weasley. I think we're done for today." McGonagall's voice wasn't firm and strict like it had once been. It was in a way…broken. She gave Ginny faint smile, and left to talk to Professor Sprout. Ginny returned to the Gryffindor common room exhaustedly and flopped down on the nearest bed she saw. She hadn't talked to Harry, Ron, or Hermione at all today; she wondered what they were doing. She wondered what _Harry _was doing, mostly. She didn't really know where she and Harry were relationship wise, and she wanted to see him more than anyone.

She had thought Harry had died the night before. Everyone did. At that moment, she didn't know exactly what to feel. She had only begun dating Harry the year before, in the middle of her fifth year. Remembering how she felt about the dark haired boy when she was eleven made her chuckle a bit. It was just a mere crush. Harry was best friends with Ron, so when he came to the Burrow in the summer, she was ecstatic. She would always gush to her mum how much she admired his jet black hair, his emerald green eyes, and his adorable smile. He had been so nice to Ginny in the few times they encountered, so the attraction grew and grew.

Things were different now. What Ginny felt for Harry couldn't possibly be described with words. Ginny felt somewhat sympathetic towards Harry, not because she was attracted to him, but because his life was usually gloom. His parents were dead, his grandfather was dead, and the one man the he looked up to the most was _dead. _She could never know how it felt to lose so many people you loved so quickly. It was truly unfair. But he overcame so many obstacles, and it didn't matter that Voldemort had made Harry's life a living hell; Harry did whatever it took to kill the Dark Lord once and for all, even if it did mean dying. After all they'd been through, how could she not love him?

Love. Every time she thought of harry, that word would usually turn up. When they were dating the year before, he wasn't just one of the many boys she had dated. He was….Harry. She appreciated him so much more and she felt more attracted to him every day. He wasn't simply a fling like Michael Corner or Dean Thomas; Harry was someone that Ginny wouldn't mind spending the rest of her life with. Yet the question the kept bothering her was if Harry felt the same. Sure, he might have fancied her, but were his feelings stronger now? What if he had no feelings for her left?

Ginny mentally kicked herself to stop thinking about Harry. He had been through a load of shit in the past night, and she was already thinking of their relationship? How whipped was she? Her thoughts were interrupted by someone opening the door and coming in the dormitory.

"Ginny?" It was just Hermione. Hermione had been one of her best friends since the summer of her third year. They had shared Ginny's room, and though it was awkward at first, they quickly became acquainted. Even though the two girls were very different, they got along remarkably well.

"Yes?" Ginny said lazily, rolling on to her back. She rubbed on her eyes and sighed.

"How are you feeling? Do you need water? Food?" Actually, she didn't feel hungry or thirsty. She was just so tired. "No thanks, Hermione. I'm alright." She said casually.

"No you're not, Ginny. I know you like the back of my hand. You're upset about your brother and I'm not the one you want to be comforted by." As soon as she heard the word 'brother', the dam broke. It was evident that tears were starting to shimmer in her eyes. She put her head down and quickly wiped away her tears with the palm of her hand. "Am I that obvious?" She said, slightly chuckling.

"Terribly, yes." Hermione gave her a small smile before she sat down and put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "He wants you." She said softly. Ginny honestly refused to listen to what she had just said, not wanting to believe it.

"Doubt that," Ginny replied, shaking her head.

"It's true, Ginny!" Hermione said louder this time. "He is hardly talking to anyone right now. He wants to talk to _you, _not me, not Ron, _you!" _Ginny looked down at her fingers on her lap. She had been fiddling with them the entire time Hermione was talking, feeling nervous of what she would do next. Once she gained the confidence, she raised her head and said, "Where is he, Hermione?"

Her bushy, brown haired friend smiled. "The common room." And with that, Ginny was gone.

* * *

Ginny came down the staircase and arrived at the common room, to find Harry sitting on the couch, staring into the fireplace. This was the first time she had seen his face since the battle; he was much cleaner and fresh faced than the night before, and he had stitches and bandages for his wounds. She swore that every time she looked at his face, she saw the happy twelve year old boy that was in his second year at Hogwarts. New to magic, new the Wizarding world, new to the school. The face he wore now was a torn downed man with more life experience than several wizards ever had in their lifetime. She took time to admire his appearance; his hair was probably more uncontrollable than it was before, and there was stubble on his face too, which meant he was growing facial hair. He was also rather skinnier.

"Harry?" She said finally. He slowly turned his head, his eyes lighting up when seeing Ginny stand there.

"Ginny." He was smiling then, the first genuine smile he had used in a while. Ginny came over to the couch and sat next to him, folding her hands in her lap and turning to him. They shared an intense gaze for several seconds before Ginny leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. She rested her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent. It reminded her of nature somehow, like pine trees and raspberry bushes. He pulled her tighter to him by putting his arms around her waist, rubbing circles on soothingly on her back. They stayed like this for what felt like hours, not that either of them were complaining.

Finally, Ginny pulled back and looked him straight in the eye. "Are you okay, Harry?" It was a whisper that was hardly audible, but she knew Harry had heard it. He sighed. "I think it's I who should be asking you that," he said softly.

Ginny shook her head before taking Harry's hands in hers. "Forget about me for a minute, okay Harry? You've been through so much these past few days, _months. _I can't even to begin to imagine what you're going through." Harry was silent for a moment. He looked down at how their hands were touching, and the corners of his mouth twitched a little.

"I just can't believe it's over, you know? I mean…he's dead. He's _finally dead." _Harry was grinning a bit now, and Ginny just nodded. "I just feel like it's too good to be true. Like I'll wake up and this will all be a dream. And that I'll have to endure the nightmare called my life," he said with a chuckle, but Ginny didn't even smile. Harry usually did laugh everything off after he released his anger on some unlucky person (which was Ginny at one point in time).

"It's all over now. We can…move on from this." Ginny said hopefully. She put on a fake smile, for Harry, so that she wouldn't make this about her. Even though she couldn't help it sometimes, she hated crying. She just felt so weak and helpless, and she loathed it. Especially when people were watching. The last thing Ginny wanted was Harry to see her sobbing.

"I know. I already got an offer from Kingsley about joining the Auror Program in London in two weeks. Ron was offered to join, too. Hermione's getting an internship at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement after she finishes her seventh year at Hogwarts. We have our future set for now."

"That's great, Harry! Oh, I'm so glad Hermione's returning to school. I don't think Hogwarts would be much fun without my older friends," Ginny sighed. "Things are going to be different now, aren't they?"

Harry looked at Ginny for a moment. "Of course. Voldemort's dead, the leftover Death Eaters are being rounded up, and Hogwarts is an inch from being how it used to be. Things are going to be so much better from now on." Ginny felt happy to hear these words, but she couldn't overcome the sadness that was still trapped inside her. Everything would be great from now on, but what did it matter if her deceased loved ones weren't here to enjoy it with her? She looked down at her lap and started fiddling with her fingers again.

"Ginny," Harry said gently. "Is it just me or do you not seem entirely happy?"

"Harry, I'm fine—"

"Don't you dare lie to me, Ginevra Weasley. After what happened to Fred, I'd be damned if you were really fine." It was too late—the tears in her eyes already began to spill, and she was starting to sniff as well. Harry immediately put one arm around Ginny's shoulder and held her hand with his other.

"It's just so unfair! Why do the people who least deserve it die, when Death Eaters and other dark wizards are still alive?" Ginny was choking on her own sobs now, while Harry was rubbing circles on her back once more. "Fred should still be here. Tonks should still be here. She had just given birth to Teddy! And Lupin! He was going to be an excellent father!" Ginny was nearly shouting all of these things, and was beginning to receive odd looks from people passing. Embarrassed, Ginny started wiping her tears away very quickly. "Oh my lord, I'm so sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to—"

"Don't be sorry," Harry assured her, kissing to top of her head. "It's okay to cry, Ginny. You don't look weak. You anything but that, Ginny Weasley." The tears sprung from her eyes once more, unable to control them. She cried onto Harry's chest for several minutes, choking out sobs and muttering words that Harry wasn't able to comprehend. Harry was murmuring soothing words into Ginny's ear to try to make her feel better, yet it did little to help.

After nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop uncontrollable sobs, Ginny finally had no more tears in her left to cry out. She was beginning to calm down. "I'm sorry. You know I'm not usually like this." Harry flashed her cheeky smile, before running his fingers through his dark hair. "Um…Ginny, I know this might not be the right time to ask you this—it's just, I don't know, I know that I broke things off a year ago to protect you and everything—and well, I just wanted to—"

"Harry," Ginny interjected, putting her hand on his shoulder. "Get on with it, please."

"Ginny, would you like to get back together with me? I understand if you don't want to—lots of things can change in a year—well, they haven't for me, but—"

Harry was cut short when he felt Ginny's warm lips touch his cheek. They lingered there for a while, until Ginny pulled back and said, "I would love to."

**A/N: Hinny isn't my OTP, but I do love this couple and thought that it would be nice to do a one-shot with a little fluff. Thanks for reading!**


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